| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to job incentives; providing a short |
| 3 | title; specifying purpose; creating the Floridians |
| 4 | Back to Work Program within the Division of Workforce |
| 5 | Services of the Department of Economic Opportunity; |
| 6 | providing duties of the division; requiring the |
| 7 | division to adopt rules to implement the program and |
| 8 | administer funding; authorizing wage subsidies of |
| 9 | specified amounts for employers that hire job |
| 10 | applicants meeting certain conditions for specified |
| 11 | lengths of time; conditioning implementation of the |
| 12 | program upon an appropriation in the General |
| 13 | Appropriations Act; providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
|
| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
|
| 17 | Section 1. Floridians Back to Work Program.- |
| 18 | (1) This section may be cited as the "Floridians Back to |
| 19 | Work Program." |
| 20 | (2) The purpose of the program is to offset the cost of |
| 21 | hiring new workers and to encourage employers to create long- |
| 22 | term, private-sector employment for Floridians. |
| 23 | (3) To accomplish the purpose of this program, the |
| 24 | Floridians Back to Work Program is created within the Division |
| 25 | of Workforce Services of the Department of Economic Opportunity. |
| 26 | The division shall carry out its responsibility to achieve the |
| 27 | duties, responsibilities, and goals of the department to manage |
| 28 | the activities of public-private partnerships as provided in s. |
| 29 | 20.60(4)(e), Florida Statutes, by promoting the establishment of |
| 30 | public-private partnerships with employers for the purpose of |
| 31 | transitioning residents of this state from receiving |
| 32 | unemployment compensation to becoming employed as members of the |
| 33 | workforce. |
| 34 | (4) The division, in consultation with Workforce Florida, |
| 35 | Inc., and its board, shall adopt rules that implement the |
| 36 | Floridians Back to Work Program and appropriately administer |
| 37 | federal and state workforce funding for implementation of the |
| 38 | program through the communication of program and fiscal |
| 39 | instructions to regional workforce boards throughout the state. |
| 40 | (5) The program shall authorize a participating employer |
| 41 | to receive a wage subsidy of up to $2,000 for the hiring of each |
| 42 | qualified job applicant. A participating employer must retain a |
| 43 | newly hired applicant for at least the following lengths of time |
| 44 | in order to receive a wage subsidy: |
| 45 | (a) Thirty days to receive a subsidy of $500. |
| 46 | (b) Sixty days to receive a subsidy of $1,000. |
| 47 | (c) Ninety days to receive a subsidy of $1,500. |
| 48 | (d) One hundred twenty days to receive a full subsidy of |
| 49 | $2,000. |
| 50 |
|
| 51 | An employer may not receive a wage subsidy calculated on a pro |
| 52 | rata basis in any amount other than as provided in paragraphs |
| 53 | (a)-(d). |
| 54 | (6) For purposes of the program, a "qualified job |
| 55 | applicant" means a person who: |
| 56 | (a) Is unemployed at the time of hire. |
| 57 | (b) Is currently receiving unemployment compensation or |
| 58 | has received unemployment compensation at any time within 12 |
| 59 | months before the time of hire. |
| 60 | (c) Is hired for at least 30 hours per week. |
| 61 | (d) Made less than $15 per hour at his or her last |
| 62 | employment before becoming unemployed. |
| 63 | (7) The implementation of the Floridians Back to Work |
| 64 | Program as created under this section is subject to an |
| 65 | appropriation in the General Appropriations Act. |
| 66 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012. |